"Pull it back further, you won't be able to kill your prey if the arrow never reaches it" my cousin Vron said, as I felt my muscles burn trying to pull the bowstring back while keeping the bow trained on the knot in the tree 30 yards away. I adjusted my aim, breathed in to steady my arm, then loosened the arrow missing the knot going into a lower part of the trunk. "Getting better but still need more work on your aim before you go out hunting with the rest of us," Vron said. Out of breath I just look over at him with an evil look while pulling back his bow and shooting an arrow directly in the middle of the knot, with my 10 arrows that I have shot around it with only one of them on the edge of the knot."You need to learn not to be so tense it throws off your aim, now go get your arrows, and let's go back home, Vron said. "Ok," I pant out while walking over to get my arrows, looking up at the sun it looks like we have been out here for a few hours practicing archery. Well, I have been practicing archery Vron has been giving me tips while probably being amused by watching me miss.
Hanging my bow on my shoulder I started to pull out the arrows and put them in the hide quiver on my back, glad that the arrows I'm practicing with don't have arrowheads and are just pointed sticks so they come out fairly easy from the wood. Unfortunately, Vron's arrow does have an arrowhead and it went deep into the wood which is just great, trying to pull it out it doesn't even move it. I try to wiggle it while pulling but it doesn't even budge. Just as I start to get fed up with it I feel a hand on my shoulder, "Need some help Urok," asked Vron. "Yeah thanks," I huff, backing up and let him grab the arrow and pull it out as I lean against the tree and close my eyes. "Don't worry about not landing your arrows, you'll get better with time, you're only ten, no one expects you to be a master archer yet," said Vron. "I think my father would disagree with you, ever since I showed that I have some talent by helping the village leader keep track of the number of supplies we have and need, he's started to become more expecting of me to be better at other things such as archery," I say while my breathing becomes more manageable thinking about how I saw that the village didn't yet have a good way of keeping track of things. Though that is mostly because they don't have a written language quite yet, I mostly just proposed the idea to the village leader of keeping a ledger of sorts to keep track of the food, weapons, and etc. It was hard to make him accept the idea from an eight-year-old. After I convinced him of the idea, he had me find a way for it to work, eventually, I just made a template with a piece of wood and some charcoal. It was mostly just a list with what it's listing on top of the wood and tallies under it. I thought that he would make me some sort of log keeper or something afterward, but nope just gave that to someone else.
"Your father just wants you to grow up to become a good provider for the village," Vron said while putting his arm on my back and starting to lead me across the oasis to the village across the lake, the great sand dunes behind it. "Once you grow up I think you'll appreciate the lessons that I and the others teach you with them and your smarts you will become a great hunter and warrior for the village," Vron keeps telling me that but, I don't really want to be a hunter or a warrior its just so much risk when I think my talents and knowledge would be better put to use as a researcher, wise man, or whatever else they would call someone who invents things for the village. This is a new chance at life and I don't really want to go out and just die to some animal, dehydration, or fighting some war because one of our village leaders had a problem with another. "What if I don't want to do that Vron," I say looking over to him. "Urok," he replies, "as much as you think your ideas would benefit the village we currently just don't have enough active fighters, after a bad hunt 10 years ago we've been down on manpower though it wouldn't be as bad if there wasn't a rival village that has set up along the river that runs from our lake." A rival village, this is the first I've heard about it. "What rival village," I ask. "A new village popped up or at least that's what the hunters have told us after coming back from the last hunt, from what they have to tell about it seems like they're not too friendly, plus they don't speak the same language as we do," he says while scratching the back of his head "they attacked our hunters when they tried to communicate with them, thankfully it seemed as though they didn't have many fighters and our hunters got away with only minor wounds mostly though bek did get cut up pretty bad the healers say he will live but not well," I'm about to ask another question when I notice we are almost at the sandy mud walls that surround the small village.
Entering the village Vron and I start going to my house which is in the back of the village just to the right of the village chiefs, I hear a high pitch voice yell my name turning around I see it's my little sister Ada running up to us covered in dirt and mud from helping in the berry patches that we have spread around the oasis "Ur look we just picked the berries don't they look good," she says while looking at me pushing up a basket full of red berries. "Shouldn't you be taking that to the cooks so they can preserve it and use it in cooking Ada," I say while looking down at her. "I know.." she says while looking down as Vron hits me in the back of the head, as I rub the back of my head and look at Vron I tell her "alright also Ada you did a good job helping pick the berries but you should still take them straight to the cooks ok". "Ok, oh also father said he wanted to talk with you," she said and pointed to the chief's hut, "he said he would be at Ged's all day." "Thanks Ada, see you at home," I say and turn to Vron, "well looks like I have to go over to Ged's." "Give me your bow and arrows, I'll put them away for you," I hand him my bow and quiver and start going towards Ged's house waving at him as I walk away.